(Tim OBrien) You do some thinking. You hallucinate. You look ahead a few paces and wonder what your legs will resemble if there is more to the earth in that spot that silicates and nitrogen. Will the pain be unbearable? Will you scream and fall silent? Will you be afraid to look at your own body, afraid of the sight of your own red flesh and white bone? It is not easy to fight this sort of self-defeating fear, but you try. You decide to be ultra-careful - the hard-nosed realistic approach. You try to second-guess the mine. Should you put your foot to that flat rock or the clump of weeds to its rear? Paddy dike or water? You wish you were Tarzan, able to swing on the vines. You trace the footprints of the men to your front. You give up when he curses you for following too closely; better one man dead than two. - quoted in A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam 1965-1972
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 15:22:53 +0000
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